NCAA Notes: Kansas' Aldrich reflects on triple-double

Published 5:30 am, Friday, March 27, 2009

Last weekend, Kansas’ Cole Aldrich was busy recording a rare triple-double. On Wednesday, he got a chance to see the last man to achieve the feat in an NCAA Tournament game.

Just three days after scoring 13 points, grabbing 20 rebounds and blocking 10 shots in the Jayhawks second-round win over Dayton, Aldrich and his teammates went to an NBA game Wednesday to watch two ex-teammates — Brandon Rush of Indiana and Mario Chalmers of Miami.

But the headline attraction was Dwyane Wade, the last man before Aldrich to have a triple-double in the Tournament. He did that in the 2003 regional finals against Kentucky.

“He’s so good,” Aldrich said. “It’s crazy to think that a player can be that well-rounded.”

Wade and Aldrich are two of only six players in Tournament history to of-ficially record triple-doubles.

“It gives you the chills,” Aldrich said. “It’s fun to know that I’m kind of in that small little club of people to ever do that.”

Free in name only

Top-seeded Louisville has one glaring weakness: foul shooting.

The Cardinals hope it doesn’t wind up costing them in the NCAA Tournament.

At 63.8 percent, the top seed in the Tournament has the worst free-throw percentage of all 16 teams that advanced beyond the second round. Louisville players don’t need any reminders about how painful the consequences can be.

“Numbers don’t lie. If you look at our numbers from the free-throw line, it’s pretty poor,” guard Andre McGee said. “Look at how much emphasis is put on it, especially the last NCAA Tournament, being put on Memphis as far as everyone saying one of the main reasons they lost was due to free throws.”

Kansas took advantage of Memphis’ flaw last season, winning the national championship in overtime.

And the Cardinals (30-5) are doing what they can to avoid a similar fate this season.

The question in tonight’s regional semifinal game is whether 12th-seeded Arizona can stay close enough long enough to make it an issue.